View source for Ronda

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{{more citations needed|date = December 2015}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Ronda
| settlement_type          = [[Municipalities of Spain|Municipality]]
| official_name            = <!-- if different from name -->
| native_name              = <!-- if different from name -->
| image_skyline           = Ronda aerial.jpg
| image_caption           = Aerial view of Ronda, with the [[Puente Nuevo]]
| image_flag               = Bandera oficiosa de Ronda.svg
| image_shield             = Coat of Arms of Ronda.svg
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = 
| image_map                = 
| map_caption              = 
| pushpin_map              = Spain Province of Málaga#Spain Andalusia#Spain
| pushpin_label_position   = 
| pushpin_map_caption      = Location in the Province of Malaga##Location in Andalusia##Location in Spain
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = [[Spain]]
| subdivision_type1        = [[Autonomous communities in Spain|Autonomous community]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Andalusia]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[Provinces of Spain|Province]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Province of Málaga|Málaga]]
| seat_type                = <!-- [[Capital (political)|Capital]] -->
| seat                     = 
| coordinates              = {{coord|36|44|14|N|5|9|53|W|region:ES_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes    = 
| elevation_m              = 739
| elevation_min_m          = 
| elevation_max_m          = 
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_total_km2           = 481.31
| established_title        = <!-- Founded -->
| established_date         = 
| population_as_of         = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
| population_footnotes     = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
| population_total         = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
| population_demonym       = Rondeños
| population_note          = 
| population_density_km2   = auto
| timezone                 = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset               = +1
| timezone_DST             = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST           = +2
| postal_code_type         = [[List of postal codes in Spain|Postal code]]
| postal_code              = 29400
| area_code_type           = [[Telephone numbers in Spain|Dialing code]]
| area_code                = 95287, 95219
| leader_title             = [[Alcalde]]
| leader_name              = María Teresa Valdenebro
| leader_party             = [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|PSOE]]
| website                  = {{official website|http://www.ronda.es}}
| footnotes                = 
}}

'''Ronda''' ({{IPA|es|ˈronda}}) is a [[Municipalities in Spain|municipality]] of [[Spain]] belonging to the [[province of Málaga]], within the autonomous community of [[Andalusia]].

Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliffside location and a deep [[canyon]] that carries the [[Guadalevín]] River and divides the town. It is one of the towns and villages that are included in the [[Sierra de las Nieves National Park]].

==History==
Around the city are remains of prehistoric settlements dating to the [[Neolithic]], including the [[rock art]] of [[Cueva de la Pileta]].

The places of Arunda and Acinipo mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] have been traditionally identified with current Ronda.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Ronda|chapter-url=https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/25442|page=356|last=Martínez Enamorado|first=Virgilio|title=Itinerario Cultural de Almorávides y Almohades, El Legado Andalusí|location=Granada|year=1999|hdl=10261/25442 |isbn=84-930615-0-6|via=[[Spanish National Research Council|CSIC]]}}</ref>

In the fifth century AD, Ronda was conquered by the [[Suebi]], led by [[Rechila]], being reconquered in the following century  by the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], under whose rule Acinipo was abandoned. Later, the [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic king]] [[Liuvigild]] captured the city. Ronda was part of the Visigoth realm until 713, when it fell to the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] troops, who named it Hisn al-Rundah ("Castle of Rundah") and made it the capital of the [[Emirate of Spain|Takurunna province]].

It was the hometown of the [[polymath]] [[Abbas ibn Firnas]] (810–887), an [[Inventions in medieval Islam|inventor]], [[Timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world|engineer]], [[Physics in medieval Islam#Aerodynamics|alleged aviator]], [[chemist]], [[Medicine in medieval Islam|physician]], Muslim poet, and [[Andalusian classical music|Andalusian musician]].

After the disintegration of the [[caliphate of Córdoba]], Ronda became the capital of a small kingdom ruled by the [[Berbers|Berber]] [[Banu Ifran]], the [[taifa of Ronda]]. During this period, Ronda gained most of its Islamic architectural heritage. In 1065, Ronda was conquered by the [[taifa of Seville]] led by [[Abbad II al-Mu'tadid]]. Both the poet [[Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi]] (1204–1285) and the [[Sufi]] scholar [[Ibn Abbad al-Rundi]] (1333–1390) were born in Ronda.

Hitherto part of the [[Nasrid Kingdom of Granada]], Ronda was seized by the [[Crown of Castile]] in 1485. The city was granted a ''[[fuero]]'' copying Seville's.<ref>{{Cite journal|title= Asiento de las cosas de Ronda. Conquista y repartimiento de la ciudad por los Reyes Católicos (1485-1491)|first=Juan de|last=Mata Carriazo y Arroquia|journal=Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos. Sección Árabe-Islam|issn=1696-5868|volume=3|year=1954|url=https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/meaharabe/article/view/15019/13012|page=16}}</ref> Upon the Christian conquest, a policy favouring the settlement of Christians in the cities while leaving Muslim majorities in the rural communities was pursued, configurating a 70%–30% balance between [[mudéjares]] and Christians settlers in the [[Serranía de Ronda]].{{Sfn|Soto Garrido|2019|pp=120}}

In the early 16th century, [[Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain|a series of edicts]] enacted that ''mudéjares'' from the [[Crown of Castile]] must either leave or convert. The practice of [[Taqiyya]] was nonetheless common among converts from Islam (''[[Moriscos]]'') and cultural and religious continuity was prevalent in the area until the [[Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–1571)|Alpujarras revolt]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title= La rebelión de los moriscos de la Serranía de Ronda (1570): génesis, operaciones bélicas y dimensiones de un conflicto residual de la guerra de las Alpujarras|first=Miguel|last=Soto Garrido|doi=10.24310/BAETICA.2019.v0i39.6918|url=https://revistas.uma.es/index.php/baetica/article/view/6918/8925|journal=Baetica. Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea|volume=39|year=2019|issue=39 |pages=115–147 |publisher=[[University of Málaga|UMA Editorial]]|location=Málaga|doi-access=free|hdl=10630/19880|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Upon the 1570 decision to resettle the so-called ''moriscos de paces'' (''Moriscos'' uninvolved in the uprising) away from the [[Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile)|Kingdom of Granada]] and the fateful actions of municipal Christian militias helmed by {{ill|Antonio de Luna y Enríquez de Almansa|es|lt=Antonio de Luna}} involving theft and enslaving, the hitherto largely peaceful ''morisco'' community in the Serranía de Ronda radicalised.{{Sfn|Soto Garrido|2019|pp=143}} ''Moriscos'' engaged in [[guerrilla warfare]] and [[banditry]], taking advantage of their superior knowledge of the area.{{Sfn|Soto Garrido|2019|pp=143–144}}

In the early 19th century, the [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic invasion]] and the subsequent [[Peninsular War]] caused much suffering in Ronda, whose inhabitants were reduced from 15,600 to 5,000 in three years. Ronda's area became the base first of [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] warriors, then of numerous bandits, whose deeds inspired artists such as [[Washington Irving]], [[Prosper Mérimée]], and [[Gustave Doré]]. In the 19th century, the economy of Ronda was mainly based on agricultural activities. In 1918, the city was the seat of the [[Assembly of Ronda]], in which the [[Andalusia]]n flag, coat of arms, and anthem were designed.

Ronda's Romero family—from [[Francisco Romero (bullfighter)|Francisco]], born in 1698, to his son Juan, to his famous grandson [[Pedro Romero|Pedro]], who died in 1839—played a principal role in the development of modern [[Spanish-style bullfighting|Spanish bullfighting]]. In a family responsible for such innovations as the use of the cape, or ''muleta'', and a sword especially designed for the kill, Pedro in particular transformed bullfighting into its modern form.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/bullfightinghistory.htm|title=Bullfighting in Ronda - History, Culture, Tradition|website=www.andalucia.com|date=5 August 2011 |language=en|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref>

Ronda was heavily affected by the [[Spanish Civil War]], which led to emigration and depopulation.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}} The scene in chapter 10 of [[Hemingway]]'s ''[[For Whom the Bell Tolls]]'', describing the 1936 execution of Fascist sympathisers in a (fictional) village who are thrown off a cliff, is considered to be modeled on actual events of the time in Ronda.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Buckley|first=Ramon|date=1997|title=Revolution in Ronda: The Facts in Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls."|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-20181962/revolution-in-ronda-the-facts-in-hemingway-s-for|journal=The Hemingway Review|volume=17|issue=1|pages=49|issn=0276-3362}}</ref>

==Geography==
Ronda is situated in a mountainous area about {{convert|750|m|abbr=on}} [[Height above mean sea level|above mean sea level]].  The inner relief is gentle and includes areas of pastureland and vegetable and cereal growing areas.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ronda |url=https://www.bodegaslasangrederonda.es/newpage81557478 |website=Bodegas La Sangre de Ronda |access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref> The [[Guadalevín]] River runs through the city, dividing it in two and carving out the steep, 100-plus-meter-deep El Tajo [[canyon]] above which the city perches. The [[Abies pinsapo|Spanish fir]] is [[Endemism|endemic]] to the mountains surrounding Ronda.

==Main sights==
[[File:Alameda del Tajo Ronda.JPG|thumb|Alameda del Tajo Ronda]]
[[File:Panorama of Ronda.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The {{lang|es|[[Puente Nuevo]]}} bridge in Ronda]]
[[File:Sunset in Ronda yeonu.jpg|thumb|Sunset from the {{lang|es|Puente Nuevo}} Bridge]]
* Three bridges span the Tajo canyon: {{lang|es|Puente Romano}} "Roman Bridge" (also known as the {{lang|es|Puente Arabe}} "Arabic Bridge", as the foundation is Roman and it was rebuilt above in the Arabic Period); {{lang|es|[[Puente Viejo]]}} "Old Bridge" (also known as the {{lang|es|Puente San Miguel}} "St. Michael's Bridge"); and {{lang|es|[[Puente Nuevo]]}} "New Bridge". The term {{lang|es|nuevo}} is something of a misnomer, as the building of this bridge commenced in 1751 and took until 1793 to complete. The {{lang|es|[[Puente Nuevo]]}} is the tallest of the bridges, towering {{Convert|120|m|abbr=on}} above the canyon floor. The former town hall, which stands next to the {{lang|es|Puente Nuevo}}, is the site of a [[Paradores|Parador]] and has a view of the Tajo canyon.[[File:BullRing-Ronda, Andalusia, Spain.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Outside the Ronda Bullring]]
* The {{lang|es|Corrida Goyesca}} is a bullfight that takes place once a year in Ronda in the {{lang|es|[[Plaza de Toros de Ronda]]}}, the oldest [[bullfighting]] ring in Spain.<ref name="ArmaniPress">[http://www.giorgioarmani.com/pressRelease/pressDetail?prid=78&year=2008&language=EN "Georgio Armani Designs Costume for Cayetano Rivera Ordonez for 'The Corridor Goyesca{{'"}}]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711093437/http://www.giorgioarmani.com/pressRelease/pressDetail?prid=78&year=2008&language=EN |date=2011-07-11 }}.</ref> It was built in 1784 in the [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical style]] by the architect [[José Martin de Aldehuela]], who also designed the {{lang|es|Puente Nuevo}}.[[File:Baños Arabe - Ronda.jpg|thumb|Inside the Arabic baths]]
* The partially intact {{lang|es|Baños Arabe}} ("Arabic baths") are found below the city, beside the {{lang|es|Puente Arabe}} (also known as the {{lang|es|Puente Romano}}) and date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. They can be visited, but are no longer in use as baths. The Arab Baths used to fulfil the function of purifying the visitors who came to the city of Ronda. They are the best preserved Arabic baths according to [[Regional Government of Andalusia|Junta de Andalucia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Málaga: un pequeño homenaje a la gastronomía andaluza |url=https://www.vipealo.com/blog/malaga-un-pequeno-homenaje-a-la-gastronomia-andaluza/ |website=Vipealo |date=30 November 2020 |access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref>[[File:Ronda 05.jpg|thumb|upright|right|{{lang|es|italic=no|Plaza del Socorro}}]]
* The {{lang|es|Plaza del Socorro}} is the modern political centre of Ronda. It was here that [[Blas Infante]] showed the Andalusian flag and coat of arms for the first time in 1918. The parish church of Socorro ({{lang|es|Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Socorro}}) was only built in 1956. The building known as the Casino and {{lang|es|Circulo de Artistas}} (Artists' Society) is located on the north side of Ronda's {{lang|es|Plaza del Socorro}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/casino.htm |title=Ronda - Casino and Circulo de Artistas |website=Andalucia.com |access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref>[[File:Palacio_de_Salvatierra.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Palace of the Marqués de Salvatierra]]
* The Palace ({{lang|es|palacio}}) of the {{lang|es|italic=no|Marqués de Salvatierra}} opens irregularly as a small museum of Renaissance art and artefacts. The palace is an 18th-century renovation of an earlier 16th century building gifted to the family of Don Vasco Martín de Salvatierra by the [[Catholic Monarchs]] when they redistributed the spoils of the [[Reconquista|Reconquest]]. In 1994, [[Madonna]] obtained a permit to shoot inside the palace for the music video of "[[Take a Bow (Madonna song)|Take a Bow]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/salvatierra.htm |title=Mainsites - Palacio del Marqués de Salvatierra |website=Andalucia.com |access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref>[[File:Casa_del_Rey_Moro_(Ronda).jpg|thumb|upright|right|Casa del Rey Moro]]
* Despite the name, the {{lang|es|Casa del Rey Moro}} was never the home of a Moorish king. It was built in the 18th century, when Moorish Spain was already a distant memory. Its apparently Moorish gardens are even more recent, having been designed by the French landscape gardener [[Jean Claude Forestier]] in 1912. The house does incorporate one genuine and important relic of Ronda's Moorish era: the so-called Water Mine, a set of steps down to the river carved into the cliff wall.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/casadelrey.htm |title=Mainsites - Casa del Rey Moro |website=Andalucia.com |access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref>
* {{lang|es|[[Serranía de Ronda]]}} is filled with {{lang|es|pueblos blancos}} which are approachable by car.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.andalucia.com/province/malaga/serrania-de-ronda.htm | title=Serranía de Ronda | date=5 August 2011 }}</ref> The position of the town of Ronda provides views over the mountains of Serranía de Ronda.

==Cultural influence==
[[File:Doorknocker Ronda Bullring.jpg|thumb|Doorknocker at the Ronda Bullring|upright]]
American artists [[Ernest Hemingway]] and [[Orson Welles]] spent many summers in Ronda as part-time residents of Ronda's old-town quarter called La Ciudad. Both wrote about Ronda's beauty and famous bullfighting traditions. Their collective accounts have contributed to Ronda's popularity over time.

In the first decades of the 20th century, the famous German poet [[Rainer Maria Rilke]] spent extended periods in Ronda, including three months at the Hotel Reina Victoria (built in 1906) between December 1912 and February 1913; his room remains to this day as he left it, a minimuseum of Rilkeana. According to the hotel's publicity, Rilke wrote (though probably not in Spanish) ''He buscado por todas partes la ciudad soñada, y al fin la he encontrado en Ronda'' and ''No hay nada más inesperado en España que esta ciudad salvaje y montañera'' ("I have sought everywhere the city of my dreams, and I have finally found it in Ronda" and "Nothing is more startling in Spain than this wild and mountainous city.")

Hemingway's novel ''[[For Whom the Bell Tolls]]'' describes the execution of [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] sympathizers early in the Spanish Civil War. The [[Spanish Republican Army|Republicans]] murder the Nationalists  by throwing them from cliffs in an Andalusian village, and Hemingway allegedly based the account on killings that took place in Ronda at the cliffs of ''El Tajo''.

Orson Welles said he was inspired by his frequent trips to Spain and Ronda (e.g. his [[Don Quixote (unfinished film)|unfinished film about Don Quixote]]). After he died in 1985, his ashes were buried in a well on the rural property of his friend, retired bullfighter [[Antonio Ordóñez]].

English writer [[George Eliot]]'s book ''[[Daniel Deronda]]'' ("Daniel of Ronda") tells the story of a [[History of the Jews in Spain|Spanish Jew]] brought up as an Englishman. Some speculation existed that Eliot's ancestors had lived in Ronda prior to the [[expulsion of the Jews from Spain]] in 1492.

In the fashion world, Italian designer [[Giorgio Armani]] specially designed the bullfighting costume called ‘Goyesco’ for famed bullfighter [[Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez]] on the occasion of the Corrida Goyesca that took place on September 6, 2009, in Ronda. Cayetano's suit of lights was in the [[Francisco Goya|Goya]]esque style, comprising a jacket, trousers, and cloak in techno-satin. The three pieces were embroidered with sequins, small glitter stones, and thread, all matching the colour of the background fabric.<ref name="ArmaniPress"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.elpais.com/articulo/agenda/Armani/brindo/Ronda/elpepigen/20090906elpepiage_3/Tes | title = Armani brindó en Ronda | work=[[El País]] | date = 2009-09-06}}</ref>

Ronda was used as the setting for the flower market in the 2017 animated movie [[Ferdinand (film)|''Ferdinand'']].

==Transport==
[[File:Estación de Ronda.jpg|thumb|Ronda Train station]]
Ronda is accessible via highways ([[Autovía A-374]]) and by rail from [[Algeciras]] and from [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]]. A direct train from Madrid to Ronda operates twice daily.

The single-track railway between Ronda and Algeciras was built between 1890 and 1892 by the [[Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company]]. It enabled the British military officers to escape the summer heat of [[Gibraltar]]. The railway was built by James Morrison, an engineer, in partnership with [[Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon]], a financier. The station at Ronda was opened in 1892.

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Spain}}

===Twin towns – sister cities===
Ronda is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:
* {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Cuenca, Spain|Cuenca]], Spain
* {{flagicon|MAR}} [[Chefchaouen]], [[Morocco]]<ref>[http://www.pasoslargos.com/elgrupo/chefchaouen2006.htm Asociación Senderista ''Pasos Largos'' - Chefchaouen, Morocco.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503231427/http://www.pasoslargos.com/elgrupo/chefchaouen2006.htm |date=2007-05-03 }}</ref>
* {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Castiglion Fiorentino]], [[Italy]]
* {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Ontinyent]], Spain
* {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Ceuta]], Spain
==Notable people==
* [[Candela Sierra]] (born 1990), filmmaker, and comic book writer and artist

==See also==
* [[List of municipalities in Málaga]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.rondatoday.com Ronda Today] English language tourist Information about Ronda and surrounding areas.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090607062847/http://www.turismoderonda.es/indexeng.htm Ronda T]

{{Municipalities in Málaga}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Municipalities in the Province of Málaga]]